Means for indicating the height of liquids in tanks



NGV, 1?, 1931. 331363 MEANS FOR INDICATZNG THE HEIGHT OF LIQUIDS INTANKS Filed May 9, 1924 f'ufenrat Patented Nov. 17, 1931 NITED STATESPATENT OFFICE WILLIAM P. DALRYMIPLE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TOBENDIX STROMBERG CARBURETER COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A.CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS Mums FOR INDICATING THE HEIGHT or meomsm TANKSApplication filed May 9, 1924. Serial No. 711,945.

This invention relates to means for indicating the height of a body ofliquid in a tank from which a supply is drawn up for consumption, as forexample in connection with the gasoline tank carried by a motor vehicle.in my pending application, Serial No. 611,- 002, that was filed January6, 1923, is shown an apparatus for the same purpose, and the presentinvention is an improvement upon the construction therein shown. As inthe said other construction this invention has particuiarly to do with aconstruction adapted for use in connection with a vacuum-producingapparatus for intermittently drawing up a quantity of gasoline from asupply tank for transference to a carburetor. The object of theinvention is to provide improved means for utilizing air pressuredeveloped by the head of liquid in the supply tank to indicate 330 bymeans of a suitable indicating device, such as a gauge, the height ofthe liquid in said tank. This object I accomplish by the means shown inthe drawing and hereinafter particularly described; and while theconstruction shown is Well adapted for the practicing of the inventionit is to be understood that such construction and arrangement of theparts of the mechanism may be modified in many details without departingfrom the invention.

in the drawing,the figure, which is largely diagrammatic, shows myinvention in connection with a well-known form ofintermittently-operating vacuum-producing appara- 85 tus that isemployed in connection with the feeding of gasoline to the carburetor ofan automobile enginemost of the parts being shown in section and someparts being broken away.

in said drawing-5 and 6 indicate, respec- 'tively, the outerand innerchambers of a well-known type of vacuum system designed for automobileuse, there being in the head 7 "that hermetically closes the upper endsof both such chambers the usual passage 8 through which gasoline isadmitted to the interior of the chamber 6, the passage 9 through whichair 'lrom the inner chamber 6 is exhausted, and the passage 10 open tothe atmosphere. The passage 8 has heretofore till been connected with apipe that led directly to the interior of the supply tank A, but, ashere shown in connection with my improvements, there is substituted forsuch directleadlng pipe a comparatively short length of pipe (1 thatconstitutes a member of a conduit of novel constructionthat connectswith the supply tank ashereinafter described. From the passage 9 leadsas usual a pipe 11 that at its lower end is connected with the intakemanifold 12 in which, of course, is created a high vacuum or suction dueto the pumpin action of the pistons in the motor, whic vacuum or suctionis also established in the inner chamber 6 that is connected-with themanifold by the pipe 11. The usual pipe for the admission of atmosphericpressure to the inner chamber 6 through the passage 10 is shown at 13..The passages or ports 9- and 10 are controlled by the usual valves thatre.- spectively move upwardly and downwardly to seating or closingpositions, which valves are operated by means of lever and springdevices that are interposed between such valves and the usual float 14.At the lower end of the inner chamber 6 is the ordinar nozzle 15 throughwhich the gasoline may ow into the outer chamber 5, the nozzle beingprovided with a check valve 16 that will be held closed when the vacuumexists in the inner chamber. A pipe 17 connects the chamber 5 with thecarburetor 18 as usual. The construction and arran ement of all theparts so far briefly describe and referred' to by reference numerals, isso well understood that I do not deem it necessary to more particularlydescribe them. Furthermore, my invention is not limited to itsemployment in connection with the particular vacuum-producing meansshown but may be advantageously used with other forms of such apparatusthat will intermittently produce a vacuum in a chamber so that theliquid fuel from a supply tank is thereby caused to be drawn into it andfed therefrom.

A indicates a supply tank that is located at a considerably lower levelthan the vacuumproducing apparatus with which it is con- 'nected, andfor which it is designed to fur:

nish a supply of liquid. In the upper part of the wall of the tank A isan opening of considerable size closed by a plug 6, the wall of the tankalso having a suitable opening, such as shown at c, to connect theinterior of the tank with the atmosphere. The conduit through whichliquid is drawn from the tank comprises in addition to the short sectionoi pipe a, before mentioned, a pipesection (2 that extends into the tankA and has its open lower end positioned near the bottom of the tank-suchpipe, in the construction shown, passing through an opening in the plug6. The upper portion of the pipe (1 passes through the lower part of areceptacle 0, and

its open upper end terminates a short distance from the top of saidreceptacle. The upper portion of this receptacle is connected in anysuitable manner with the, pipe section a, and it constitutes inconnection with the pipe sections a and d a continuous conduit betweenthe chamber 6 of the vacuum-producing apparatus and the supply tank A.In that portion of the pipe (1 that is within the receptacle c and nearthe bottom of such receptacle are formed one or more small holes 7through which liquid in that receptacle may drain back into the pipe (1when the vacuumproducing apparatus is not functioning.

Surrounding that portion of the pipe d that projects into the tank A isa chamber that is here shown as formed of a tube g attached to anddepending from the'plug b, and having its upper end tightly closed bysuch plug. This tube is preferably of such length as to have its loweropen end slightly lower in the tank than is the lower end of the conduitpipe section (Z, and I also preferably notch the lower edge of the tubeas indicated at it, or otherwise provide one or more lateral open ingsor passages to ensure against the lower end of the tube becoming whollyclosed in the event that the tube should be seated against the bottomofthe tank.

In communication with the upper end of the chamber that isformed by thetube 9 is the casing of an indicating device or gauge. indicatedgenerally by B, which may be of any well-known type. whose mechanism isadapted to be so acted upon-by air pressure as to cause the turni of apointer movable over the dial face, of the indicator. This indicator hascommunication with said chamber g in the tank through a pipe ofrelatively small diameter, such pipe being here shown as comprising twosections indicated respectively by z and y", there being. interposedbetween. these two sections, in the construction shown, a smallair-tight trap is that is provided to catch any moisture that .may becarried into the pipe 2', although to free as far as possible frommoisture the air that shown, a passage m that leads from this cavity Zinto the upper end of the chamber 9.

With the parts constructed and arranged substantially as shown anddescribed, the tank A is to be filled with liquid and such liquid, whenthe tank is first filled, will obviously rise in the pipe d and standtherein at the same level as in the tank, but owing to the air trappedin the chamber that surrounds the lower end of such pipe it will notrise to the same height in such chamber. Thereafter, upon thevacuum-producing means being set in operation, the suction produced willcause a flow of liquid through the conduit elements 03, c and a whichwill pass into the chamber 6 of said apparatus. After the vacuum hasbeen destroyed by the movement of the float 14 that closes the valvethat controls the passage 9, and opens the valve that controls'thepassage 10, the liquid that is in the pipe member d of the conduit willflow back into the tank A. The liquid that has filled the receptaclemember 6 of the conduit will slowly escape therefrom through the openingor openings f into such pipe, but as the open upper end of the pipe (Zis in communication with the chamber 6 of the vacuum-producingapparatus, which is open to the atmosphere at this time, itis evidentthat a volume of air will have entered the pipe d because of the factthat suction induced by the down flow of liquid in the pipe section atwill draw atmospheric air from the vacuum chamber 6 through the pipe a,receptacle 0 and down through the pipe d before the contents of thereceptacle e has drained into such pipe, and therefore such air will becompressed by the weight of the column of liquid above it. The weight ofthis column of liquid will force the air out of the open lower end ofthe pipe and it will bubble-up through the liquid in the surroundingchamber and be held confinedin such chamber and, after a few operationsat least of the vacuum-producing apparatus, all

forced out and such chamber will thereafter remain filled with air, suchair being kept confined there, of course, by the pressure of the liquidin the tank A. The extent of the pressure will vary as the amount ofliquid, in the tank is decreased by its withdrawal for consumption, andsuch decreases in pressure will be indicated, as will be understood, bythe instrument B that is directly connected with said chamber as alreadydescribed.

With each destruction of the vacuum air will be allowed to flow down theconduit member d followed by a head of liquid from the receptaclemembere, and, of course, such air will be largely in excess of What isrequired to be held in confinement in the chamber g and the pipes thatconnect that chamber with the indicating device B. Such excess air, asit escapes from the open lower end of the pipe (i, will pass around thelower end of the tube 9 and bubble up to the surface of the liquid inthe tank. It is because of the necessity of thus permitting the passageof air to the interior of the tank that I provide the notches h in theedge of the tube so that air may escape through them in case the tubeshould, for any reason, be brought in contact with the bottom 'of thetank. While the amount of air required to be supplied to the chamber gwould undoubtedly find its way to such chamber if the lower end of thepipe (Z and the lower end of the surrounding tube were in the sameplane, yet I find it advantageous to have the end of the pipe slightlyhigher in the tank than the end of the tube because of the fact that thehead of liquid that may be in the tube,and some will probably be therewhen the tank is first filledcan never be as great as that in the tankitself, owing to the confinement of a body of air in such tube, andhencethe air, issuing as it does from the pipe 03' at a point higher than theend of the tube, will be almost certain to rise in such tube and fillit, thereby forcing out any liquid that may be therein, and thereafterby its pressure keeping liquid out of the tube.

By my invention I provide an apparatus of extreme simplicity and whichcan be cheaply and readily'installed in connection with any usual makeof vacuum-producing connecting said gauge to said chamber, of areceptacle at a higher level than said" tank, a vacuum tank forintermittently creating a vacuum in said receptacle, means connectingsaid vacuum tank with the upper portion of said receptacle, and aconduit having an open end in said supply tank and said chamber adjacentthe bottom and having a portion extending upwardly into the receptacleabove the bottom, said portion of said conduit having an open upper endand a port adjacent the lower portion of said receptacle and below saidlast named means.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a supplytank, a tube inv said tank closed at its upper end and communicating atits lower end with the lower portion of said tank, forming an airpressure chamber in said tank, a pressure gauge, means connecting saidgauge to said chamber, of a receptacle at a higher level than said tank,means for intermittently creating a vacuum in said receptacle, a conduitconnecting said vacuum creating means with said receptacle and openinginto said receptacle in the upper portion, and a second conduit havingan open end in said supply tank and said chamber adjacent the bottom andhaving a portion extending upwardly-into said receptacle above thebottom, said portion of the second conduit having an open upper end anda draining connection adjacent the pressure of the head of liquid insaid tank,

a pressure gauge, means connecting said gauge to said chamber, of areceptacle at a higher level than said tank, a vacuum tank forintermittently creating a vacuum in said receptacle, a conduitconnecting said vacuum tank to said receptacle and opening into thereceptacle in the upper portion, and a second conduit having an open endin said supply tank and saidchamber adjacent the bottom and having aportion extending upwardly into said receptacle above the bottom, saidportion of the second conduit having an open upper end and a portadjacent the lower portion of said receptacle and below the opening ofthe first mentioned conduit.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a supplytank, a tube in said tank closed at its upper end and communicating atits lower end with the lower portion of said tank, forming an airpressure chamber in said tank, a pressure gauge, means lower portion ofsaid receptacle and below the opening of the first mentioned conduitwhereby said receptacle may be drained through said conduit.

WILLIAM P. DALRYMPLE.

